Open AccessHealth benefits of an innovative model of care for chronic wounds patients in Queensland
Author(s) -
Tulleners Ruth,
Brain David,
Lee Xing,
Cheng Qinglu,
Graves Nicholas,
Pacella Rosana E.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international wound journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1742-481X
pISSN - 1742-4801
DOI - 10.1111/iwj.13033
Subject(s) - medicine , wound care , multidisciplinary approach , quality of life (healthcare) , multidisciplinary team , health care , service (business) , physical therapy , medical record , family medicine , nursing , intensive care medicine , surgery , social science , economy , sociology , economics , economic growth
Wound management in Australia suffers from a lack of adequate coordination and communication between sectors that impacts patient outcomes and costs. Wound Innovations is a specialist service comprising of a transdisciplinary team that aims to streamline and improve patient care and outcomes. We compared patient experiences and outcomes prior to accessing this specialist service, and the 3 months following their enrolment at the clinic. Information on patient experiences, wound history, and outcomes was collected through interviews and a review of medical records for the 12 months prior to enrolment at the clinic. Wound progress, quality of life (QoL) outcomes, and service use were tracked during the 3‐month prospective phase. A sample of 29 participants was recruited. 40% healed completely by 3 months, with the average time to healing being 8 weeks. The average QoL score at baseline was 0.69 (from a score of 1, being best health imaginable). At 3 months, the average QoL score increased significantly to 0.84 ( P ≤ 0.001). On average, participants attended the clinic 4.6 times. The average decrease in wound size was 85.4% (95% CI [75.7%, 95%]). Accessing wound care treatment at a specialist, multidisciplinary wound clinic leads to an increase in QoL and access to consistent evidence‐based practices.